Jai Morcom's death the result of of litigious parents
When I was in high school back in the 90′s the biggest confrontation I remember witnessing was between the largest guy in our class and a temp teacher.
It was rollcall first thing in the morning and the temp, a big man himself, was near the blackboard at the front of the class and most of us were filing in to take a seat.
Everyone was pretty lively and while I can’t recall what was said the next thing we knew the teacher had his hand around the guys neck and had him pinned to the blackboard.
It was completely random and obviously whatever was said verbally must have spiralled out of control. Nobody threw any punches and the teacher let him go after yelling ‘don’t test me’. After which the boy stormed out and had probably threw a tantrum somewhere.
About twenty minutes later he got over it and came back into the class and that was the end of it.
Had that of happened nowadays there’d be a federal enquiry into it, the school would be shut down for eighteen months,we’d all have been offered counselling, been given ‘special considerations’ towards the VCE and parents across the country would staging ‘walk-ins’ where they rock up to their local school and burn effigies baying for blood.
I’m not saying the kid necessarily deserved the extreme dished out to him but he definitely had something coming sooner or later. When you’re the biggest kid in class and you like to throw your weight around that tends to happen.
Jai Morcom was killed in a schoolyard fight last Friday at Mullumbimby High School in NSW. From what I can piece together the emos and the footy jocks didn’t like eachother too much (what’s new) and were sitting at their various tables.
Jocks took a chair from the emo table, emos didn’t like it and wham bam now a kid’s dead.
Of course the police are trying to balance the fine line of casting suspicions and have come out and said Jai wasn’t on either side of the fight but cmon seriously guys?
I’m sure he wasn’t just sitting there talking to the UN on his mobile discussing his plans for world peace when the fight broke out around him. He obviously had something to do with the chair and going by his photo I’d say there’s a high chance he belonged to the emos, although news reports are saying he was friends with the footy jocks.
As a sidenote I’d like to ask when the hell did emos get all physical? When I was finishing school the emo culture was just starting to take off and I remember them as confidence lacking skulkers. Times must be changing if they’re running around in gangs now taking on footy jocks.
Having said that Mullumbimby does sound like it’s in the middle of nowhere so I can’t disregard the fact that we might be dealing with some sort of hybrid mutant form of emo here.
Anyway so the kids fought while the teachers did nothing and after literally getting his head kicked in Jai was rushed off to hospital where he died on Saturday.
Naturally the school itself and the teachers there have copped flak for not doing anything and students staged a walkout today. Because you know, walking out of school is totally about sending a message to ‘the man’ and not about getting out of class for a bit.
Sure the teachers at Mullumbimby High School might not have done anything to intervene but really can you blame them?
If fights of this magnitude are breaking out regularly at the school clearly the parents have no idea how to raise children and that’s what really needs to be addressed here. Placing all the blame on teachers who get sued for assault because they farted as they walked past someone in the corridor just isn’t fair.
For years now parents have been increasingly upping the nuisance factor and looming litigation threats in our school and frankly I’m not surprised a kid is dead.
You’re a teacher, you’re standing there while two gangs of little shits are going at it. You know if you so much as raise your voice you’re going to get sued so do you break up the brawl and risk them all turning on you?
Hell no. You go back to your iphone and let the little bastards fight.
Parents have brought this upon themselves.
Caroline Hutchinson from Blog Central shares an anecdote that brilliantly showcases why teachers don’t interfere in schoolyard fights anymore;
A friend of mine was a teacher in the western suburbs of Sydney for around 15 years. While others did their time and got out as fast as they could, Luke stuck at it.
Part P.E. teacher, part social worker, he believed in the kids and loved his job.
A couple of years ago, at the final bell one Friday as kids and teachers began streaming out of classrooms looking for a short cut home, a group of Year 10 girls passed Luke on the stairs.
Laughing and joking, one of them made a grab for the pens in Luke’s top pocket.
He was a relatively young, good looking teacher, he liked to joke with the kids and he felt he had a good rapport with them.
So he swatted her hand and kept moving. Suddenly there were ten girls who wanted the pens – amidst cheering and giggling and Luke was swamped.
Never one to back down from a challenge, as the pens were grabbed and lifted victoriously, he hit back – seized the pen snatchers wrist and backed her up against a wall.
To more cheers and lots more boos he plucked the pens from her hand.
Long story short, later that evening the police visited his home to discuss allegations of assault.
The 15-year-old had told her dad that Luke had ‘crushed’ her wrist and humiliated her.
Her Dad demanded an apology, Luke’s dismissal and financial compensation for the effect the injury would have on his daughter’s study.
The rumour mill began to grind and it eventually made the papers, with headlines like “student assault” complete with testimony from the standard disgruntled parents.
Luke was stood down pending an investigation.
In the end, the charges didn’t make it to court, however the family received an official apology and Luke was offered a job at a different school. He didn’t take it.
We don’t need to reintroduce the cane but we do need to address the castration moron parents have forced upon the teachers that teach their kids.
Otherwise we end up with ridiculous pre-emptive situations against crappy parents such as the cartwheel ban introduced mid last year.
Belgian Gardens State School in Townsville has banned all gymnastics activities during lunch breaks, declaring it dangerous because it has the potential to cause back and neck injuries.
“Sadly I think this is probably linked with the current society where litigation is rife and I feel that schools are probably trying to avoid a child being hurt and an irresponsible mother then trying to sue them for it.”
Instead of introducing bans that have negative impacts on the growing up of children how about we tackle the problem itself. It’s time we seriously started looking at making our schools litigious free zones.
Not only will we stop gold digging parents in their tracks but we’ll simultaneously allow teachers to get on with the job of teaching and interacting with students without fear of legal reprisal. The price for not doing so will be similar cases like that of Jai Morcom.
Morcom’s blood isn’t on the teachers or students hands, it’s on the parents.
September 1st, 2009 at 10:24 am Scribbler(Quote)
I am a chalkie so I feel I can talk with some knowledge about this topic and I partly agree with you. Parents can become a nightmare at a school especially when the school administration is unable or unwilling to take them on. But other factors can also come into play.
The socio-economic circumstances of the school’s clientelle is also a major influence on student behaviour expecially with group student behaviour. This is a cultural problem rather than one of just parent action/inaction.
School culture though is the proverbial elephant in the room with Jai’s death (if his death wasn’t just a cruel and isolated incident and this could be the case). Fights, in my experience, start to break out or become common place in schools when there is a lack of leadership. In schools where principals or deputy principals are absent for large periods of time (sickness or junkets), or are ineffective, fights follow. Students seem to be able to smell when teachers have no ‘backup’ or when the school is rudderless. The fact that gangs are even able to form speaks volumes about the social climate at a school. The schools I have taught at have all had social cliques (and this is only natural?) but when lines are drawn between these groups and cliques become gangs, trouble surely follows.
Disclaimer: I have no first hand knowledge of Jai’s school or the circumstances surrounding his death and I am only speaking of my experiences in high schools.
September 1st, 2009 at 10:49 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Even if we are to blame the principal for lack of leadership I’d still argue that this falls back on the parents though.
The Herald Sun wrote an interesting piece on a report released by the Victorian Principal’s Association mid last year highlighting some of the crap principals have to deal with.
I’m not saying these specific examples happened at Jai’s school but I do think it’s indicative of widespread parental interference in the schooling system.
If that’s what they’re trying to work with then no wonder principal’s are just giving up and letting kids run riot.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:14 pm Anonymous(Quote)
As someone who knew Jai personally I can say I am very offended by the way you have used this tragic situation to make a mock-up of a article – more your propaganda with no definitive link establishing your claim that these types of occurrences because of litigious parents. This is a fight that could have happened at any school, any where any time. Fight’s like these happen every day and worse. Jai was a proud, caring and happy kid. Just because you have a blog website makes you think it is your godly given gift to be able to have a quick and snappy (or over-competant and in comprehensive) view on anything at any time. This is not the way the real world works, situations like these have many influencing factors beyond the control of anyone.
My point: Think before you write, next time. It could offend somebody.
October 20th, 2009 at 12:55 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Just because the fight could have happened at any school doesn’t make my point any less accurate.
If litigious parents weren’t busy suing teachers because the pencils were too sharp and little Johnny shoved one up his nose, or because Mrs Appleby raised her voice at little Tommy after he called her a slut and now his parents think he needs years of counselling, then teachers wouldn’t be terrified of intervening in schoolyard fights.
If it weren’t for litigious parents Jai Morcom might still be alive today.
I’m sorry for your loss but I still maintain it’s the idiot parents of today that have brought deaths like this upon themselves.
February 8th, 2010 at 1:55 am LaLa(Quote)
I went to that school during the late 80s when I was in my early teens and it was a really great school! Beautiful environment, great teachers and easygoing and smart kids. Some of my fondest memories are of Mullum High!!
Unless the culture of the town and school has seriously changed for the worst (which I doubt and many family names are still in the area) then I suspect this was a one-off incident where a disagreement went too far.
August 31st, 2010 at 1:06 pm Maroon(Quote)
I have to agree with the author of this article…my perspective on this incident does not decrease my sadness at the death of this young boy whom I did not know. However, the article does highlight the increase of violence everywhere. It is really scary that kids are so lacking in self control that they will fight to the death.
Kids have always biffed each other, especially boys. The fisticuffs lasted for a few moments, then it was over. If an adult was nearby, both kids probably got a shakeup, and that was the end of that.
Because we are no longer allowed to use corporal punishment as a means to discipline children when they are first violent, then that violence may snowball into a bully effect, and someone gets really hurt.
It is a natural instinct to whack an errant child. It does not hurt them, it teaches them. It is only when that discipline is overdone that it becomes abuse. My opinion of course.